From Bill Bellerose, chair of the Division I Men's Ice Hockey Committee
We are a couple of weeks into the season, and it really looks like the title is going to be up for grabs. There are so many teams that will be in the mix. It is great to see such parity.
I wanted to give everyone a heads up that the bid process for selecting the 2013 and 2014 Frozen Four and 2012 regional sites is quickly approaching. We will start accepting bids on December 15 with a deadline of February 15. We will cut the list down and review bid proposals from our finalists for the Frozen Four sites. We hope to make an announcement sometime late June. The amount of interest being shown in this process across the country already has been phenomenal.
For the Frozen Four, we have a preference towards NHL buildings as they are staffed appropriately and have a consistent ice surface size. Also, we have had some NHL teams who have really stepped up to take our event to the next level. For example, last year in Washington, DC, the Washington Capitals let the number one seed use their locker room, and that really made for a fantastic experience for those student-athletes. George McPhee, Washington's General Manager, was extremely supportive of the entire event and it really helped the overall experience of the event.
For regionals, the overall sentiment from the college coaching community is that they like neutral buildings. Several years ago we (Holy Cross) played at North Dakota for the regional tournament and had an unbelievable experience, and if the home team makes it, you are pretty much guaranteed to bang out the building. However, there is a dis advantage for the traveling teams and the coaching community has expressed that to us. There are some really good AHL buildings we have used that have helped with the neutrality and also allowing our student-athletes to have a great experience.
Finally, I would like to touch on the contact to the head in hockey. This issue has come to the forefront this season, especially in the NHL, but we have always had this as a big emphasis in college hockey. There is no place for that in our game. We need to teach hockey players, beginning at a young age to keep their elbows down and that hits to the head are totally unacceptable. The opponent is totally defenseless against this type of behavior, so I am a big advocate of making sure we have stiff penalties associated with this.
We are a couple of weeks into the season, and it really looks like the title is going to be up for grabs. There are so many teams that will be in the mix. It is great to see such parity.
I wanted to give everyone a heads up that the bid process for selecting the 2013 and 2014 Frozen Four and 2012 regional sites is quickly approaching. We will start accepting bids on December 15 with a deadline of February 15. We will cut the list down and review bid proposals from our finalists for the Frozen Four sites. We hope to make an announcement sometime late June. The amount of interest being shown in this process across the country already has been phenomenal.
For the Frozen Four, we have a preference towards NHL buildings as they are staffed appropriately and have a consistent ice surface size. Also, we have had some NHL teams who have really stepped up to take our event to the next level. For example, last year in Washington, DC, the Washington Capitals let the number one seed use their locker room, and that really made for a fantastic experience for those student-athletes. George McPhee, Washington's General Manager, was extremely supportive of the entire event and it really helped the overall experience of the event.
For regionals, the overall sentiment from the college coaching community is that they like neutral buildings. Several years ago we (Holy Cross) played at North Dakota for the regional tournament and had an unbelievable experience, and if the home team makes it, you are pretty much guaranteed to bang out the building. However, there is a dis advantage for the traveling teams and the coaching community has expressed that to us. There are some really good AHL buildings we have used that have helped with the neutrality and also allowing our student-athletes to have a great experience.
Finally, I would like to touch on the contact to the head in hockey. This issue has come to the forefront this season, especially in the NHL, but we have always had this as a big emphasis in college hockey. There is no place for that in our game. We need to teach hockey players, beginning at a young age to keep their elbows down and that hits to the head are totally unacceptable. The opponent is totally defenseless against this type of behavior, so I am a big advocate of making sure we have stiff penalties associated with this.
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